Overview

History of the Study & Sample of Subjects

Central Questions Driving Talent Abounds

Nature vs. Nurture

Characteristics of Master Teachers

Shared Characteristics with Peak Performers

The Nature of Fields and Constraining Nature of “isms”

Japanese “Living Treasures in the Arts”

The Importance of Public Policy

What Is To Be Learned from Gifted Public School Teachers

Conclusions

History of the Study &

Sample of Master Teachers and Peak Performers

Japanese “National Living Treasures” in the Arts: Comparative Perspective

Commonalities and Differences across Different Fields of Endeavor:

*Classical Music and Jazz

(violin, cello, piano, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, tuba, percussion)

*Opera

*Modern Dance

*Chess and Mathematics

*Swimming and Diving

*Culinary Arts

Purposive and Convenience Sample

*over 150 interviews, 30+ with gifted Indiana public school teachers

Central Questions Driving Talent Abounds

What is the nature of talent?

How is nature identified and nurtured?

Is exceptional talent an innate quality?

Is expert intervention essential to the fulfillment of talent?

What are the characteristics of master teachers?

What do master teachers share in common with peak performers?

How do social class, gender and ethnicity influence access to instructional

and performance opportunities?

Can lessons learned in one particular national and cultural context or in one

performance field be extended to other societies and fields?

How does public policy shape the recognition and development of talent?

Characteristics of Master Teachers

Metaphors: “X-ray vision,” “tailoring instruction,” providing “short cuts”

Ability to detect technical or conceptual problems students have

Ability to detect what student capabilities are and provide them with precise challenges or set of tasks enabling them to reach next performance level

Ability to break down complex problems into specific steps and provide tools essential to accomplish these tasks, leading to peak performance

Guiding students to become self-reflective, self-directive life-long problem solvers and contributors to communities of practice

Peak Performers: Shared Characteristics

An early start, often as a result of family influences

A passionate love of their vocation

Perfectionism, often obsessively involved

Curiosity, deeply exploring their field and seemingly unrelated domains

Development of highly valued personal vision

Development of a distinctive signature/voice

High-energy, performing and teaching into their 70s (except in sports)

Japanese Living National Treasures:

Ryohei Matsuda (Knox College)

Performance Fields & Featured Artists Studied

Noh

Shōroku Sekine

Kyōgen

Sensaku Shigeyama IV

Shamisen

Gosakichi Kineya II

Japanese Sword (polishing)

Matsuo Fujishiro

Bunraku

Tamao Yoshida

Japanese Dance

Kikunori Onoe

Characteristics: Teachers and Teaching

Strictness (rigorousness) is of utmost important

師厳しからざるは道尊からず

*More scolding than praising

*Public humiliation

*“Things are flying over all”

物が飛ぶ

Mastery of basics (technical skills) vs. Cultivating artistic sensibilities

vigor or vitality

ki or chi 氣

Patience & persistence; family sacrifice

“Copying the model” vs “adding personal interpretation”

Creativity: more at advanced levels; no clones

Lessons for Japanese Public Schools

Patience and discipline

Close and caring personal relationships

Less reliance on technologies

Instilling respect for education

Teaching “learning how to learn”

Finding something students excel in

Not just for the gifted, but for all children

Start at an early age:

* “What a 3 year old child has learned stays with her/him for 100 years”

三つ子の魂百まで

What Can Be Learned from

Gifted Public School Teachers

Challenges facing teachers in the bureaucratic setting of public schools

Margaret Clements study of Armstrong Teacher Educators:

*Enthusiastic and passionate about learning and teaching

*Have a deep respect for each of their students

*Believe that the potential of all students can be developed

*Find the means to provide the challenges and arrange the specific academic tasks that further students’ learning and personal growth

*Continually striving to increase their own mastery of subject matter and pedagogical knowledge as well as their effectiveness as educators

The Importance of Public Policy

and

a Widening Circle of Supportive Contexts

Importance of public funding

*Venezuela’s State Youth Orchestra System

In-school and after-school programs in the arts, sciences, mathematics,

chess

Specialized schools and magnets schools allowing a greater degree of

specialization and focus

Advanced placement courses and university programs enrolling high school

students

Not-for-Profit/Private Sector Programs

*Scholarship Apprenticeship Programs, Emerging Choreographers, Imagine

That

Conclusions

Even the most innately gifted in various fields of endeavor benefited from a progression of masterful teachers.

Both teachers and their extraordinary students manifested similar traits

Gifted public school teachers share similar values and engage in many of the same practices as renowned master teachers

Although there are differences between the ways in which talent is identified and nurtured there are also similarities across societies/cultures

Contrary to current conservative state policies, truly gifted teachers need both subject matter expertise and pedagogical expertise

Pedagogical knowledge/skills and value orientations are best

learned in university teacher education programs that form

reflective practitioners with a broad, humanistic education

The challenge to educational policy and practice is not what

extraordinary teachers can do to develop the potential of

exceptional students, but what ordinary teachers can do to nurture the

abilities of all students so that they can live fuller lives

Public policy needs to provide teachers with the resources, support,

and autonomy to work their magic

Public policy needs to provide an expanding circle of supportive and

stimulating contexts that: *engage students in meaningful activity to

develop their potential and enable them to be contributing members of

communities from the local to the global